By Conrad Dudderar
Staff Writer
EL RENO – A Canadian County inmate with a long rap sheet faces more time in prison for allegedly having a cell phone in jail.
Oklahoma City’s Miranda Gwen Sorber, 40, was charged May 19 in Canadian County District Court with possession of an electronic device in a penal institution.
The felony crime is punishable by up to two years in prison and/or a maximum $2,500 fine.
Assistant District Attorney Micheal Oglesby alleges Sorber violated state law by “knowingly, willfully and without authority possessing in a secure area of the Canadian County Detention Center, which is a jail, a black cellular phone capable of sending or receiving electronic communications.”
Detention officers caught the defendant with the electronic device May 11, according to court documents.
Sorber was initially booked into the Canadian County Jail on March 22 for alleged fraud-related crimes.
She was serving time at the Dr. Eddie Warrior Correctional Center in Taft, Okla. for other felony crimes when she was transferred to the Canadian County lock-up.
Sorber had been formally charged on June 30, 2021, in Canadian County District Court with identity theft and obtaining merchandise by false pretenses stemming from a September 2020 case investigated by the sheriff’s office.
A preliminary hearing conference is set Aug. 31 before Special Judge Khristan K. Strubhar. Sorber’s attorney is public defender Karla Tankut.
CRIMINAL RECORD
Sorber has a lengthy criminal record with felony cases stretching back 10 years. She’s already served several stints in state prison.
Sorber has been convicted in Oklahoma, Cleveland and Grady counties for false personation, fraudulently obtaining identification, grand larceny, larceny of merchandise from retailer unauthorized use of vehicle, carrying contraband into jail, bail jumping, uttering forged instruments, eluding police officer, obstructing an officer, possession of controlled substance, possession of stolen property, unlawful possession of paraphernalia, and pattern of criminal offenses.
Several inmates have been charged in recent months with having contraband – specifically illicit drugs and hand-fashioned weapons – inside the Canadian County Jail, 304 N Evans.
Another inmate allegedly started a fire inside a jail cell.
State law makes it illegal for occupants of county jails or state prisons to have any narcotics, weapons, explosives, incendiary devices, intoxicating beverage, or money.
Canadian County Commissioners recently approved spending $147,000 for a company to install a full-body scanner in the Canadian County Jail’s receiving area.
Canadian County Undersheriff Kevin Ward recommend the purchase.
“There are some areas that contraband can be (hidden), that without probable cause we can’t search,” Ward explained.
“We believe this (body scanner) will help combat that and keep contraband out of our jail.”
